Hop-On Hop-Off Open-Top Bus Tour with Night Tour Option New York

The Downtown loop: Times Square, the Empire State Building and Wall Street

The Downtown loop covers the busiest part of Manhattan. It passes Times Square, the Theater District and Broadway, the Empire State Building and the Flatiron District, then heads south through SoHo, Chinatown, Wall Street, the 9/11 Memorial and Battery Park, where you can see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island across the harbour.

Times Square took its name in 1904 from the New York Times, and the Flatiron Building dates from 1902. Ask the driver's commentary where you should hop off first, and keep the day flexible: many visitors ask how many days they need for a hop-on hop-off bus in New York, and a 48 or 72-hour ticket allows you to see both loops without rushing.

The Uptown loop: Central Park, Museum Mile and Midtown

The Uptown loop, included on the 48 and 72-hour tickets, runs through Midtown and the Upper East Side. It passes Grand Central Terminal, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Rockefeller Center and Fifth Avenue before reaching Central Park, which covers 843 acres, and Museum Mile, the stretch of Fifth Avenue that holds the Metropolitan Museum of Art and several other major museums.

Hop off at the museum of your choice and enter using a ticket of its own, as admission to attractions is not included. Bus routes, stops and hours may change with traffic, weather and events, and the Downtown loop normally runs from morning to late afternoon.

The live-guided night tour

The 48 and 72-hour tickets include a two-hour Panoramic Night Tour with a live English-speaking guide. It departs from Stop 1 at 7th Avenue and West 48th Street at 7:00 pm or 8:00 pm and shows Manhattan after dark: the lights of Times Square, the Empire State Building and the bridges of the East River.

Night tours run in the evening, and seats on the upper deck are the best for photos. If you are asking whether a New York night bus tour is worth it, the two-hour format gives you a very different view from the daytime loops and is a good way to end a first full day in the city.

The harbor cruise, walking tours and your ticket

The 72-hour ticket adds a sightseeing harbor cruise, with a choice of a one-hour or a 90-minute cruise, and four digital walking tours you can follow on your phone. The cruise gives you views of the Statue of Liberty, the skyline and the bridges from the water.

Your ticket is a mobile ticket that you activate in the app, and the validity starts at activation. The app shows live bus arrivals and a map of the stops. Digital commentary comes with free earbuds in six languages. The ticket you choose sets what is included, so compare the options in the booking panel.